Alarm for automobile-jacks



L. IVI. FISHER.

ALARM FOR AUTOMOBILE IACKS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.26 |920.

.Mu ".In/ Allll fm?. IIL O LIIIIII I specification.

Unirse stares yrara-air jerarca.;

LOUIS M. FISHER, 0F CLARKSDALE, MISSOURI;

FOR AUTOIJIOBILE-JACKS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patentd Aug. 9,1921.

Application sied August'ae, 1920'. serial No. 406,070.

To all whom t may concern.' Y

Be it known that I, LOUIS M. FISHER, a citizen of the United States,Yresiding at Clarksdale, in the county of, DeKalb, and State ofMissouri, have invented new and useful Improvements in Alarms `forAutomobile-Jacks, of which the following is a This invention relates toan alarm mecha# nism for use in conjunction with automobile jacks orlifters of the type shown in my United States Patent No. 1,345,842,v

dated July 6, 1920.l y y .A

With this type of automobile j'ack or lifter, a swinging support,consisting of swinging front and rear aXle supporting arms connected formovement 1n unison are provided to support the vehicle. l/Vhen thevehicle is moved thereon in one direction,

the swinging support is moved in such. direc tion with the vehicle andto raisethevehicle p in an elevated position, said support beingv lockedin such position. When the locking mechanism is raised the swingingsupport swings in the reverse 'direction by gravity under the weight ofthe vehicle, and lowers the vehicle so that the wheels will again comein Contact with the ground. 'y'

The object of my present invention is to provide an alarm mechanism,consistingof alarm devices respectively actuated upon the movementof theswinging frameto its reversed positions, thus indicating positively tothe operator or attendant that the deviceA has made a full movement inthe 'direction vto lift the vehicle, in which'position it will Figure lis a sectional side elevation of the device, showing in full lines theparts when swung forwardly to support and lift the vehicle, and showingin dotted lines the arms moved rearwardly to vehicle releasing position.Y

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of parts shown in F ig. l, and particularlyillustrating, the alarm mechanism. v i 1 i n Fig. 3 is a verticalsection on the line 3f?) of F ig. 2. l Y

Fig. 4 is a transverse section taken sub-vy stantially on the .line 4 4of Fig. l. l

The device embodies a framevlf, including;

track rails (not shown) on which the Vehicle runs to bringit inposition' to, be engaged.

by the swinging support. This swinging supportv comprises front swingingarms 2 and rear swinging arms 3. I have vshown .i

in the drawing. the parts of the mechanism at lone side only ofthe framel, which are. i

duplicated in practice at .the oppositeV side vof the frame, from whichitfgwill be under# stood that a single arm 2 is provided at each side oftheframe andetwo v,or more arms 3 at each'side of the frame. 'These arms2.

and 3 are pivotally mounted at their lower ends to swing longitudinallyof thev frame,-v and the arms at each side of the Vframe are coupled forswinging movement inunisonby a'rod 4. The rod 4 is pivoted to thel arm 2at its forward end and at its rearend 2 sov to av supporting bar or railA5, said baror rail 5 being pivotally'connected with ,the upper ends ofthefarins 3. Y The arms v2 are adapted to engage and support ithefrontaide 6 of the vehicle, while the barsl 5 ,are

provided with suitable guidewaysto receive sliding wear plates 6 whichengage andv support the rear aXleY fof the vehicle. -fIhe constructionis thus such that the wear plates i 6` are-adapted to slide upon thevbars 5 inl the back Land forth movements ofthe vehicle to diminish wearand tea-r upon the aXle? and the cooperating parts of'the jack. .y

A latch bar 8 is pivoted .at its forward end to one of the arms 2 andisslidably mounted. at; its opposite end through; an

opening in a keeper plate 9 and provided with a notch l0 adapted toengage a portion of said keeper plate, when theswinging support is movedforwardly lto vehicle elevating position, to lock the support in suchposition until the latch is released. Upon the release of the latch theswinging support will move rearwardly and the swinging arms will assumethe dotted line position shown in Fig. 1 under the weight of thevehicle, which will travel rearward by gravity and again be lowered tothe Yfloor line. It will be observed that when the arms 2 and 3 are innormal orlowered position, both sets of arms 2 and 3 will be inclinedrearwardly beyond center, or beyond the vertical line of their pivots,while when said arms 2 and 3 are swung forwardly, the arms 2 will bemoved to a forward position beyond center or be yond the vertical linesof their pivots, while the arms 8 will assume a substantiallyperpendicular position. The keeper 9 carries a bell crank lever 11, onearm of which is arranged to engage the latch bar 8, while the other armthereof is connected by a rod with a controlling lever 13. Bymanipulating this lever 13 the bell crank lever 11 may be operated tolift the bar 8 and thus release the notch 10 from engagement with thekeeper 9, thus freeing the swinging support for movement from vehicleraising to vehicle lowering position. c Y

Pivotally connected at one end with an arm 2 is a retracting rod 14slidably movable at its opposite end .through a guide 15, thelatter-named end of the rod being threaded to receive an adjusting andtensioning nut 16, and a coiled spring` 1.7 being arranged on the rodbetween the guide and nut. When the swinging support moves forward tovehicle raising position this spring is tensioned and remains tensionedas long as the support is'locked in vehicle raising position by thelatch bar 8, the spring 17 by this reaction serving to 'assist inswinging the support backward as soon as unlatched, so as to feet theready and easy removal of the support back from reverse position and thelowering of the vehicle.

I provide an alarm mechanism operative on reverse movements of theswinging support to indicate such movements. This alarm mechanismcomprises a pair of p'votally mounted bell hammers 18 and 19 andcoacting coiled operating springs 20 and Each of these springs ismounted upon a supporting rod 22 suitably fastened to the frame, and thelower end of each spring is suitably fastened to the supporting rod orto the frame, while the opposite or upper end of the spring is extendedat an angle and slidably connected with its bell hammer as indicated at23. One of the arms 2 is provided with a Contact 24 to engage the end 25of the spring 21 associated with the ham mer 18, while the rod 14 isprovided with a contact to engage the end 27 of the spring associatedwith the hammer 19.

rllhe parts described are so arranged that upon the forward swingingmovement of the swinging support the contact 24: will engage and wipepast the end 25 of the spring 21 associated with the hammer 18, thusten* sioning said spring and then releasing it, whereby the hammer 18will be vibrated to tap a gong 28 to indicate full movement of the jackto vehicle elevating position. On the reverse movement of the swingingsupport the contact 26 will engage and wipe past the end 27 of thespring 21 associated with the hammer 19, thus first tensioning and thenreleasing said spring whereby said hammer will be vibrated to tap thegong 28, giving a signal that the jack has been actuated to release thevehicle. lt will thus be understood that the alarm device provides aconvenient means for indicating to an operator or attendant that eachmovement of the jack to raising or lowering position has been positivelyaccomplished. Also it will be evident that the alarm device will give awarning signal whenever the device is tampered with by mischievous ormalicious persons, and further that it is adapted to sound a warning inthe event that any unauthorized person attempts to remove a vehiclesupported upon the ack. l

Having thus fully described my invention, l claim:

1. ln combination with an automobile jack employing a swinging member,of a ,gong arranged adjacent to said member, a clapper pivoted adjacentto said gong, a spring normally holding said clapper retracted from saidgong, an end' ofl said spring slidably engaged with said clapper, andl acontact member on said swinging member adapted' to engage said springend when moved in one direction toiirst retract the spring and theclappcr and then to release the same to the action of said spring.

2. ln combination with a vehicle ack enploying a swinging member, ofagong, a pair of clappers arranged adjacent to said gong and adapted tobe moved into contact with the latter, springs normally holding saidclappers withdrawn from said gong, means whereby movement of theswinging member in one direction will actuatethe clapper to strike thegong, and means whereby movement of the swinging member' in the reversedirection will operate to actuate the other of said clappers to strikethe sone l In testimony whereof l afiiX my signature.

LOUIS M. FSHER.

